Checkpoint Watch: Testimonies from Occupied Palestine - Softcover

Judith Keshet

Softcover

ISBN 10: 184277719X ISBN 13: 9781842777190

Publisher: Zed Books, 2006

Synopsis

This book is a critical exploration of Israel's curfew-closure policy in the Occupied Palestinian Territories through the eyes of CheckpointWatch, an organization of Israeli women monitoring human rights abuses. The book combines observers' daily reports from the checkpoints and along the Separation Wall, with analysis of the bureaucracy that supports the ongoing occupation. Keshet demonstrates the link between Israeli bureaucracy and the closure system as integral to a wider project of ethnic cleansing.

As co-founder of the group, Keshet critically reviews the organisation's transformation from a feminist, radical protest movement to one both reclaimed by, and reclaiming, the consensus. Illustrating the nature of Israeli mainstream discourse as both anodyne and cruel, the book also analyses Israeli media representation of Checkpoint Watch and human rights activism in general. Keshet contends that the dilemmas of these Israeli women, torn between opposition to the Occupation and their loyalty to the state, reflects political divisions within Israel society as a whole.

About this title

About the Author

Yehudit Kirstein Keshet was born in Wales and has lived in Israel since the late fifties, settling there permanently in 1974.

Excerpt. © Reprinted by permission. All rights reserved.

Checkpoint Watch

Testimonies from Occupied Palestine

By Yehudit Kirstein Keshet

Zed Books Ltd

Copyright © 2006 Yehudit Kirstein Keshet
All rights reserved.

ISBN: 978-1-84277-719-0

Contents

Maps, vii, 
Acknowledgements, viii, 
Foreword by Amira Hass, x, 
Introduction, 1, 
one | The context, 9, 
1 Occupation, 11, 
2 Bearing witness, 31, 
two | The checkpoints, 53, 
3 The Gateway to Hell, 55, 
4 The Annexation Wall, 89, 
three | The observers, 105, 
5 Dilemmas of witnessing, 107, 
6 Representation, 132, 
7 Conclusion, 150, 
Appendices, 
1 Checkpoints observed, 2001–05, 156, 
2 Complaints filed in 2004, 163, 
3 Monthly Digest, November 2004, 164, 
References, 169, 
Index, 176, 

CHAPTER 1

Occupation

Preamble, Article 3. In the case of armed conflict not of an international character occurring in the territory of one of the High Contracting Parties, each Party to the conflict shall be bound to apply, as a minimum, the following provisions:

Persons taking no active part in the hostilities, including members of armed forces who have laid down their arms and those placed hors de combat by sickness, wounds, detention, or any other cause, shall in all circumstances be treated humanely, without any adverse distinction founded on race, colour, religion or faith, sex, birth or wealth, or any other similar criteria ... To this end, the following acts are and shall remain prohibited at any time and in any place whatsoever with respect to the above-mentioned persons: (a) Violence to life and person, in particular murder of all kinds, mutilation, cruel treatment and torture; (b) Taking of hostages; (c) Outrages upon personal dignity, in particular humiliating and degrading treatment; (d) The passing of sentences and the carrying out of executions without previous judgment pronounced by a regularly constituted court, affording all the judicial guarantees which are recognized as indispensable by civilized peoples. 2. The wounded and sick shall be collected and cared for.

Section III, Article 47. Protected persons who are in occupied territory shall not be deprived, in any case or in any manner whatsoever, of the benefits of the present Convention by any change introduced, as the result of the occupation of a territory, into the institutions or government of the said territory, nor by any agreement concluded between the authorities of the occupied territories and the Occupying Power, nor by any annexation by the latter of the whole or part of the occupied territory. (Fourth Geneva Convention, 1949)

The term 'occupation' is a loaded one. For Palestinians, occupation began in 1948, with the establishment of the State of Israel on 78 per cent of their land, the creation of the refugee problem and the obliteration of Palestinian history and culture from what is now Israel. For Israelis, 'occupation', in so far as it exists at all, refers to the military conquest of the West Bank and Gaza during the Six-Day War of June 1967. I will use the latter definition since this implies recognition of the State of Israel within internationally sanctioned borders, those prevailing until 4 June 1967.

Since 1967, Palestinians in the West Bank and Gaza have lived under Israeli military rule. They are a stateless people in their own land, disenfranchised and with no political and very few civil rights except the most basic as laid out in the Geneva Conventions of 1949. Israel has continuously evaded its responsibility to implement the Fourth Geneva Convention to which it is a signatory (Geneva Convention Protocols, Vol. 1, [1995], p. 559). An outstanding example is that of the colonies/settlements in the West Bank and Gaza despite the fact that these are illegal under international law (Fourth Geneva Convention, Section Ill, Article 49).

The Convention deals most comprehensively with the obligations of an occupying power towards civilians in occupied territory, but Israel contends that since the West Bank was formerly under Jordanian occupation it cannot be considered a sovereign state, a prerequisite for application of the Convention. Nor is the legal status of Palestinians assured. West Bankers are subject to the directives and commands of the Israeli military commander. Criminal cases against Palestinians are tried by the State of Israel in military courts, with all that this implies. Early in the Occupation, the Supreme Court ruled that Palestinian residents of the Occupied Territories (OT) are eligible, in certain cases only, to appeal to the High Court of Justice based on the equity law system that differs from the regular court system based on rights. Israelis living in the West Bank are subject to Israeli civil and criminal law.

Much has been written about the Occupation and the endless series of plans and road maps that seek to bring 'peace' or 'end the Occupation'. One of the claims of this book is that Israeli interests, political, economic and strategic, are so bound up with possession of the territories as to make any viable, just solution to the conflict unlikely. A solution would imply recognition of legitimate Palestinian claims as equal to those of Israel. That recognition is sadly lacking at all levels of Israeli policy and discourse.

This chapter focuses on Israel's restrictions of Palestinian mobility as a primary tool for perpetuating the Occupation, for creating territorial facts on the ground, and for asserting Israeli supremacy and control. It will provide the reader with a guide to understanding how that system, of which the checkpoints are part, works.

Checkpoint policy

Immediately after the Six-Day War in 1967, a general permit for entry to Israel was conferred on Palestinians in the West Bank (for Gazans this came in the mid-1980s) with the exception of security suspects and criminals. This was part of a general policy of linking the economy of the Occupied Territories with that of Israel. An 'Open Bridges' policy also allowed freedom of goods and movement between the West Bank and Jordan. This 'freedom' often involved humiliating checks on entering and exiting the territories by the military, but nevertheless created a sense of openness and transparency, something that Israel could point to in its favour. Naturally, these concessions could be revoked at will. The open–close–open cycle, the carrot and the stick, created a sense of uncertainty and tension among the Palestinian population, a deliberate programme of psychological warfare (Gazit 1995). Apart from routine weaponry, the arsenal of this war was simultaneously complex and simple: closures, checkpoints, curfews backed up by a permit system that has become more Sisyphean and more draconian with the years. This is how the system evolved:

• 1967 General entry permit conferred on Palestinians wishing to enter Israel. Entry restrictions loosely applied.

• 1991 Continuous general closure imposed on the territories with outbreak of first Gulf War; a personal permit is now required for individuals wishing to enter Israel. Military checkpoints are erected at key points to monitor the system.

• 1991–93 In the wake of a series of stabbings of Israelis by individual Palestinians, the checkpoint-closure system is tightened. Passage between the northern and southern West Bank, between Gaza and the West Bank and East Jerusalem is subject to a permit from the Civil Administration. Paradoxically, the Oslo Accords signed in September 1993 result in further ramifications to the system. Israeli commitment to a safe passage route between Gaza and the West Bank is never fully implemented.

• 1996 Prime Minister Nethanyahu opens the controversial Hashmonean Tunnel under the Temple Mount in Jerusalem. Armed clashes break out between Palestinian policemen and Israeli troops. A first internal closure is imposed on the territories: restrictions on movement between Palestinian towns, villages and areas are accompanied by severe limitations on entry into Israel. The system is implemented by an ever more elaborate checkpoint system.

• 2000–01 With the outbreak of the El Aqsa intifada (2000–04) the closure-checkpoint policy is intensified and systematized by means of reinforcing all the measures outlined below: general closure, internal closure, curfew and, of course, proliferating and expanding checkpoints. At the same time the permit system is rigorously implemented and, since May 2002, extended to cover any and all movement of Palestinians within as well as outside the West Bank. Palestinian vehicles are totally or partially barred from travel on 700 km (350 miles) of roads within the West Bank. These roads are reserved for Israelis only. Palestinians may use only secondary or tertiary routes (B'Tselem 2004c).

• 2004 There are some forty-eight staffed permanent barriers of which twenty-eight are on the Green Line (i.e. barring access directly into Israel) or deep within the West Bank. There are seven manned control towers at various points and 607 physical blockades around villages (B'Tselem 2005).

• 2005 Some checkpoints, mostly those between Israel and the West Bank, have undergone cosmetic upgrading such as rudimentary and partial cover against the elements and have acquired the appearance of permanence. Metal detectors and revolving gates have been introduced that limit access to one person at a time. Some checkpoints have even been equipped with laptop computers to speed up the process of checking for security suspects. The upgraded checkpoints are strategically located to enable Israel to close off access to, and within, the West Bank at will.

A glossary of oppression

Blockades Physical obstacles to freedom of passage. Since September 2000 or earlier, almost every village in the West Bank has been blockaded, usually by means of concrete cubes and/or earthworks, rubble, mud or ditches. Some of these blockades are staffed, others are not. On a visit to the southern West Bank in July 2004, there was almost no visible sign of the military in the area, the blockades serving the purpose of preventing vehicular, and even pedestrian, access to and from each village. Palestinians too were noticeably absent. The blockades are usually waist high or more and residents must scramble across and over them. This is an obstacle even for the nimble and an impossible task for the disabled, heavily laden, sick or elderly. The individual arrives at her/his destination dusty or muddy in season, hot and bothered and, inevitably, humiliated. Worse still, access for emergency vehicles, ambulances, fire engines and so on is prevented by the blockades and I have personally witnessed several cases of patients being lifted or dragged across on makeshift stretchers in a way unlikely to improve their condition. Ambulances must make detours that considerably delay their arrival and departure, again to the detriment of those they are trying to reach. There has been increased resort to donkeys for transportation, something that had almost vanished from West Bank life. Unfortunately, donkeys and horses may not pass the checkpoints, so that even this form of travel has its limitations. Some activists have suggested that there is a deliberate policy of forcing the Palestinians back into a pre-technological age; but perhaps the donkeys are a form of resistance rather than the result of conspiracy.

Checkpoints Barriers between the West Bank and Israel, and between West Bank towns and villages. Here civilians must present proof of identity, transit/mobility permits to military personnel and submit to baggage and body checks on demand. Since checkpoints are the subject of this book and will be dealt with at length in Chapter 3, suffice it to say here that these may be permanent or temporary, fixed or mobile, staffed either by the army or the border police. Along the route of the Annexation Wall (see Chapter 4), private security guards are also employed.

Closure Prohibition on passage of Palestinian civilians wishing to enter Israel with the exception of humanitarian cases permitted at the discretion of the security forces. Closure may be declared without warning on suspicion of a forthcoming terror attack, or in the wake of such an attack, and on all Jewish and Muslim festivals and public holidays. Closure may last anywhere from hours to several days.

Curfews Military prohibition on civilians leaving the confines of their homes. Possibly the cruellest plank in the oppressive structure of curfew–closure–checkpoint is the curfew itself. From the early years of the state until 1965, curfews were used as a regular security measure, or collective punishment, for Palestinian citizens within Israel under military government. During the years of Occupation since 1967, curfews have become a regular weapon in Israel's arsenal of oppression in the West Bank and Gaza.

A curfew can be imposed by the army at any time and in any location, often prior to a planned military operation. Residents of the unlucky town or village in question risk being shot on sight if they leave their homes during the curfew (B'Tselem 2002c). A curfew may last anywhere from a few hours to several weeks, with only short, erratic, breaks for replenishing stores, not to mention living one's life. In the tight confines of West Bank homes, it is not difficult to imagine the pressure on whole families trapped with frequent electricity blackouts and dwindling supplies, in all weathers, not knowing when their siege will end. Nor are the short- and long-term effects of this stress difficult to foresee.

Between June 2002 and December 2004, Nablus recorded 4,688 curfew hours; Hebron suffered 5,828 hours, respectively 25 per cent and 35 per cent of the entire period.

Encirclement Whereas a 'closure' imposed on the territories prevents Palestinians from coming into Israel, 'encirclement' totally closes off every town and village in the West Bank; nobody comes in, and nobody leaves. As one checkpoint commander reportedly said: 'They know there's an encirclement, so it's better if they all stay at home' (MachsomWatch 2005: 106).

The integrated curfews–closure–checkpoint system expedites the Occupation. Curfews facilitate military operations such as the rounding up of suspects/militants to take place supposedly with minimum civilian casualties. Closures and encirclement bar not only access to Israel but also movement within the West Bank itself, effectively isolating a city or area from its surrounding satellites, paralysing all activity. The checkpoints control the lives of the thousands of individual Palestinian civilians attempting to go about their daily tasks, and, together with the blockades of villages, and the complex ID/permit system (see below), enable the security forces to monitor the movement and whereabouts of every Palestinian man, woman and child in the West Bank. Israeli settlements and their residents are never subject to curfew or mobility restrictions.

Amira Hass has written that the curfews, closures and checkpoints are a plunder of time as much as they are a theft of space (Hass 2002a: 10). One might say without exaggeration that they represent a theft of freedom, the freedom to control your own life in its most intimate and minute details. The effect not only on the individual but also on Palestinian society as a whole is physically, economically, socially and psychologically devastating. For Israel, it involves an enormous expenditure of funds, troops and materiel with no real security benefit. As we shall see, there is also growing concern in Israel about the morally corrupting effects of Occupation on the occupier although without the concomitant of concern for the denial of Palestinian rights (Ha'aretz, 24 November 2004).

Bureaucracy

Freedom of Movement and health are inseparable ... the dismemberment enforced by the encirclement–curfew–closure policy on [Palestinian] geography, economy and society serves one central idea: control of all areas of life of the occupied group in order to prevent any chance of realization of its rights to political, social and economic independence. (PHR 2003: 2)

The winning combination of curfew–closure–encirclement–checkpoint used to such effect by the Israeli military in suppressing the Palestinians was not born overnight, but like many invidious systems developed slowly, each step preparing the way for the next. As we have seen, it evolved from the curtailment of movement of Israeli Palestinians in the early years of the state, through the supposedly temporary closures during the first Gulf War of 1990–91, to the total paralysis of the West Bank during the current conflict. It is backed up by an elaborate, dysfunctional, system of passes, permits and privileges administered by the army in its guise of the so-called Civil Administration's District Coordination and Liaison Office (DCL). The very concept of the permit system is a priori iniquitous, turning a basic human right into a grudgingly granted, by no means universal, privilege (Hass 2002a, 2002b; PHR 2004).

The process of acquiring a permit may be likened to a game of snakes and ladders. The applicant scores one success, only to be plunged back to the beginning of the process by refusal at the next. Several accessories are required for this game, a game whose outcome is never assured, one that can become a matter of life or death.

§

If your brother was killed by the IDF ... then you will probably be prohibited on security grounds, because you are more likely to be involved in a terrorist attack. (Tzadoq Yehezkeli, Yediot Achronot, 23 January 2004)

People sit for hours ... At the end of the day, if the gate does not open, they return to the hatch for magnetic cards to get a chit for another day. (CPW Report, 1 January 2004)

The Palestinian civilian wishing to move around the West Bank or cross into Israel must first acquire a magnetic card, indicating that s/he has no security crime or misdemeanour on his/her record. Each application must be filed with the local Israeli DCL office in coordination with the General Security Services (GSS) office on the premises. Ideally, cards take ten days to process, after which the applicant is notified as to whether or not the request has been granted. No reason is given for refusal nor for what constitutes a security offence. Rejected applicants are often at a loss to understand of what it is they are accused or suspected.

(Continues...)

Excerpted from Checkpoint Watch by Yehudit Kirstein Keshet. Copyright © 2006 Yehudit Kirstein Keshet. Excerpted by permission of Zed Books Ltd.
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Edition details

• Publisher: Zed Books
• Publication date: 2006
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 184277719X
• ISBN 13: 9781842777190
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 200